Chapter 1311: Please Be Sure to Bring Her Back

Chapter 1312: I Have It So Hard

Originally, Lu Ye felt some hesitation about inviting Haitang to Kyushu, but hearing Jian Guhong's words immediately made him realize his decision was correct.

Though he had gathered some intelligence about the starry sky from Feng Rumoh, it was fragmented and unorganized, mainly because Feng Rumoh spoke whatever came to mind.

However, if Haitang could help systemize this knowledge, it would greatly benefit Kyushu cultivators who would venture into the starry sky in the future.

When Lu Ye explained this to Haitang, she readily agreed, pleased to be of assistance.

Several more days passed.

His Battlefield Imprint vibrated again, and upon checking, Lu Ye found a message from Xiao Jiu.

"What's wrong?"

Xiao Jiu's tone was hesitant: "There's something I don't know if I should tell you, but I also don't want to tell you. It's so hard."

Lu Ye was speechless: "If you don't want to tell me, why bring it up?"

Xiao Jiu replied, "But if I don't tell you, you'll blame me later when you find out."

"Blame me for what?" Lu Ye was curious. "What is it? If you don't tell me, I'll blame you right now."

Leaving a story unfinished was annoying. If Xiao Jiu hadn't brought it up, it would have been fine, but since it did, it must be related to him, so he had to know.

"Then I'll tell you," Xiao Jiu quickly said. Although it had sentience, its mentality was still childlike. In all of Kyushu, it could only occasionally chat with Lu Ye, as others were unaware of its true existence. Hearing Lu Ye's words, it didn't dare to conceal anything.

"A woman named Nian Yuexian has gone missing."

Lu Ye stiffened, his brows furrowing: "Missing? What do you mean?"

"She just disappeared suddenly!" Xiao Jiu replied.

It knew Lu Ye had a good relationship with Nian Yuexian, who had greatly looked after him when he first joined the Provincial Guard. If it had been a Kyushu cultivator Lu Ye wasn't familiar with, it wouldn't have bothered to tell him.

Lu Ye realized something was wrong.

Jian Guhong needed to check the imprint status on the Battlefield Imprint to determine the whereabouts of the Constellation Realm cultivators who had left Kyushu. For example, when Lu Ye had previously gone out of contact range, Jian Guhong couldn't reach him.

But Xiao Jiu was different. As the Heavenly Secret of Kyushu, it could sense the location of Constellation Realm cultivators at any time. If it said someone was missing, then the situation wasn't simple.

"It's not that she's beyond your sensory range?" Lu Ye asked.

"No, although her original location wasn't far from the edge of my sensory range, I would have noticed if she gradually went out of range. But the fact is, I suddenly lost sensation of her Battlefield Imprint."

Something had indeed happened.

Lu Ye was silent for a moment, then spoke: "Is she alive or dead?"

"I don't know. I can't sense her Battlefield Imprint, so I can't determine her life or death."

Within the range of Kyushu's Heavenly Secret, if a cultivator died, their imprint would shatter, allowing others to confirm their death. However, this didn't apply outside the Heavenly Secret's range; outside, even if someone died, their imprint would only be in an uncontactable state, not shattered.

This was also why Xiao Jiu was reluctant to tell Lu Ye. If Nian Yuexian had truly died, the place she went missing must be extremely dangerous. If it didn't tell Lu Ye, he wouldn't investigate, but if it did, Lu Ye would certainly not ignore it.

"When did this happen?" Lu Ye asked again.

"Just two hours ago!"

"Guide me to the location!" Lu Ye said, immediately changing direction and flying rapidly.

Xiao Jiu sighed. It knew things would unfold this way and could only reluctantly guide Lu Ye.

Not to mention Nian Yuexian's past kindness to Lu Ye, even if it were a Kyushu Constellation Realm cultivator he didn't know, Lu Ye would still investigate if he learned they might be in danger.

Since the incident was within the range of Kyushu's Heavenly Secret, he had to understand what the danger was and how severe it was. This was his responsibility as the first generation of Constellation Realm cultivators in the post-Kyushu era.

Haitang, who was seated on Lu Ye's shoulder recovering, sensed something and slowly opened her eyes.

Lu Ye sent a telepathic message: "Senior Sister Haitang, I won't be returning to my home realm for now. A Senior Sister has gone missing, and I need to investigate."

Haitang understood, nodding: "Then you must be careful."

She continued to focus on her recovery, ensuring she could assist Lu Ye if he encountered any danger.

Nian Yuexian's disappearance location wasn't far from Lu Ye, only about a month's journey away. This was why Xiao Jiu chose to send a message to Lu Ye, as he was the closest among all the venturing Kyushu Constellation Realm cultivators.

Although there were many Constellation Realm cultivators in Kyushu now, once they entered the starry sky outside Kyushu, they dispersed like fish in the ocean. Ordinarily, unless they traveled in pairs like the Sect Master and Yun Xuechu, native Kyushu cultivators rarely encountered each other in the starry sky.

A month later, following Xiao Jiu's guidance, Lu Ye arrived at the location where Nian Yuexian disappeared. He didn't reveal himself rashly but remained hidden afar, cautiously investigating.

However, looking around, the starry sky was empty. There were no celestial bodies, not even a single asteroid.

What kind of danger in such a place could cause Nian Yuexian to suddenly disappear?

Just as Lu Ye was puzzled and about to investigate more closely, Haitang suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise and flew off Lu Ye's shoulder.

Seeing this, Lu Ye followed closely.

Soon, Haitang stopped at a certain spot, looked around, then raised her hand and performed a magic art.

A peculiar light suddenly flashed in her eyes. After observing for a moment, a smile blossomed on her face, and she happily said, "Junior Brother Lu, I've found the aura of home."

"The aura of home?"

Haitang nodded repeatedly: "Fangcun Mountain stopped here for a while!"

Lu Ye examined carefully, but even with the Insight Spirit Rune activated, he found nothing unusual nearby. He immediately understood that this must be a unique secret art of the Miniature Human race; only they could perform it and perceive the "aura of home."

His heart stirred.

Nian Yuexian disappeared from this location a month ago, and Haitang said Fangcun Mountain had stopped here for a while...

Could it be such a coincidence?

But if there were no other possibilities, then this was the only one.

"Can you find it?" Lu Ye asked eagerly.

Haitang nodded: "I should be able to. They must have noticed I was missing, so they stopped here for a while to wait for me, leaving some traces. But since I never appeared, Fangcun Mountain had to continue moving. However, there should be some traces left along the way that I can find."

As she spoke, she continued to look around, finally settling on a direction: "This way!"

With that, she flew back to Lu Ye's shoulder. Lu Ye activated his movement technique and shot off in that direction.

Although concerned about Nian Yuexian's safety, Lu Ye couldn't help but be curious: "Can your Fangcun Mountain stop at any time?"

An entire realm, not a spirit boat, how could it just stop?

Like the Blood Refining Realm previously, if it hadn't been for the combined efforts of numerous Heavenly Secret Pillars, it wouldn't have docked next to Kyushu. That required immense thrust, and to stop the Blood Refining Realm, a significant amount of its foundation was consumed.

Haitang smiled: "Fangcun Mountain might be a bit different from what you imagine, Junior Brother. You'll know when you see it."

Having initially thought she could never return home, Haitang was clearly in high spirits from this unexpected discovery. However, she then realized something else: "Junior Brother Lu, your Senior Sister disappeared at that very location?"

Lu Ye nodded: "That's right."

Haitang immediately understood: "In that case, she might have entered Fangcun Mountain."

Lu Ye asked, "If so, will she be in danger?"

Although Haitang had a good disposition, the character of the entire Miniature Human race couldn't be inferred. If they were hostile to humans, Nian Yuexian's situation would be dire.

Haitang said, "If she truly entered Fangcun Mountain, Junior Brother, you don't need to worry too much. Although my Miniature Human race doesn't welcome other races into our realm, some cultivators do occasionally wander in. Generally, these intruders won't be in mortal danger, but..."

"But what?" Lu Ye knew that "but" usually didn't preface good news.

"But they must serve a hundred years of forced labor before regaining their freedom." Haitang glanced at Lu Ye, a little embarrassed. "This is a rule passed down by Fangcun Mountain since ancient times. Most cultivators in the starry sky know this rule, so they generally don't trespass after seeing Fangcun Mountain."

How could Kyushu cultivators know any rules of the starry sky?

Regardless, learning that Nian Yuexian's life wasn't in danger somewhat relieved Lu Ye. His greatest concern was that something terrible had happened to her.

Now, it seemed highly probable that Nian Yuexian had accidentally stumbled into Fangcun Mountain and was subsequently detained.

As for Fangcun Mountain stopping at this location...

Since ancient times, Fangcun Mountain had drifted throughout the starry sky. Its cultivators could travel with their realm and collect spirit jades, but they never ventured too far. Haitang hadn't gone far either, but she encountered a ghost ship. Although she had read many records about ghost ships, she didn't think much of it at the time and, out of curiosity, boarded it, only to find herself trapped.

If Lu Ye hadn't eventually brought her out, she would surely have met a grim fate.

This highlighted her lack of experience traversing the starry sky. Even if she had read many ancient texts and knew of various strange occurrences in the starry sky, carelessness could still lead to oversights.

It was also due to the highly deceptive nature of the ghost ship. Such a dilapidated vessel – Lu Ye had carefully investigated it beforehand, ensuring no danger before boarding – was easy to enter but impossible to leave.

***

He took deep breaths of fresh air, his chest heaving.

Confusion, bewilderment, and various emotions surged through his mind.

Where was this?

Then, Shi Yu subconsciously looked around and became even more bewildered.

A single dormitory room?

Even if he had been successfully rescued, he should be in a hospital room now.

And his body... why was there no injury at all?

Puzzled, Shi Yu's gaze quickly swept the room, finally resting on a mirror by the bedside.

The mirror showed his current appearance: around seventeen or eighteen years old, very handsome.

But the problem was, this wasn't him!

The previous him was a handsome young man in his twenties, distinguished and with some work experience.